Knocking for Air: the Diving Bell and Interactivity in Nineteenth-Century London

Abstract

Current discourses surrounding interactivity tend to use the term only in relation to contemporary technologies and sites. However, nineteenth-century British museums included instruments of various sorts (microscopes and electrometers) within interactive exhibits for visitors. The Royal Polytechnic Institution crafted dynamic experiences that challenge contemporary limitations on notions of interactivity and responsiveness. This article examines one instrument, the diving bell, in its performance as a submarine instrument and as a performative experience for spectators in the 1830s. I argue that the diving bell performance created a theatrical experiment that forged an interactivity between the instrument, the museum, and scientific practice.